Multiplayer online role-playing games enable large numbers of players to participate in a single game. Some of the more popular games include World of Warcraft, Everquest II, Runescape and Star Wars Galaxies.
A key element of these games is that players can role-play a character that is very different to their real self. For example, a character may be a different age, sex or race. Fantasy role-playing games often allow players to play, as non-human characters such as a dwarf or an elf. In both cases, players typically appear to each other in the game as the characters they are playing.
Within the context of the games, players routinely interact with each other. Players can cooperate and/or compete with each other to achieve their aims. In many cases, cooperation between several players is essential in order for certain objectives to be achieved and competition between teams of players is not uncommon.
Communication between players is typically achieved using text-based communications such as chat or private messages. Many games apply profanity filters to these messages, but it is relatively easy for players to bypass them with creative spellings or by using non-alphabetic characters to construct letters.
Players can also interact with computer controlled non-player characters in which dialogue between a player and a non-player character will be a textual interaction; with the player selecting from a range of possible responses at each stage of the dialogue.
In addition, some groups of players use 3rd party voice conferencing services to coordinate their activities when operating as a team.
However, if a player is very different to the character they are role-playing, for example, a different sex, this direct voice communication inevitably detracts from the illusion that a player wishes to project.